Vikings Catch a Break With Dalvin Cook Injury

One of the major storylines to come out of the Minnesota Vikings' loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night was the groin injury suffered by starting running back Dalvin Cook. Cook left the game during the third quarter and immediately headed for the locker room.

Although he did return for one play, Cook was replaced by backup Alexander Mattison for the remainder of the game. Initial reports on Monday say Cook avoided major injury and could be back sooner rather than later.

One thing to consider with Dalvin Cook and his groin injury: Vikings host the Falcons on Sunday, and then have a bye. Cook could miss one game and have to two weeks to recover.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 13, 2020

Dalvin Cook Injury Update

With a bye week coming up in Week 7, it wouldn't be surprising to see Cook held out this week as the Vikings host the 0-5 Atlanta Falcons. Cook had an MRI on Monday morning and Head Coach Mike Zimmer said it "went pretty well", but did not elaborate much on what that meant for Cook's recovery time.

The Vikings opted not to place Cook on the injured reserve (IR), meaning the team feels that he could be back within the next three games. Cook has dealt with injuries before (shoulder, hamstring, ACL) and has played in 34 of 53 games so far in his career, but this one does not appear to be serious.

Dalvin Cook isn’t expected to play this Sunday against the Falcons after suffering an adductor strain, according to a source. The Vikings have a bye next week, then will re-evaluate if Cook is ready to return after that.
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) October 13, 2020

Cook has been a big part of the Vikings' offense so far this season and for good reason. The Pro-Bowl running back has 489 rushing yards on the year to go along with 7 touchdowns. In fact, Cook is averaging a career-high 5.3 yards per carry this season.

If Cook is unable to suit up Sunday, Mattison would be starting for the first time in his career. Mattison has a career average of 4.7 yards per carry and is more than capable of stepping in for Cook. This past week in Cook's absence, Mattison racked up 112 yards on 20 carries and also caught three passes for 24 yards.

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Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.